Lesley H. Curtis

Journal article Heart Rhythm · September 2012 Featured Publication BACKGROUND: There are limited data regarding national patterns of pharmacotherapy for atrial fibrillation (AF) among older patients. Drug exposure data are now captured for Medicare beneficiaries enrolled in prescription drug plans. OBJECTIVE: To describe ... Full text Link to item Cite

Treatment patterns for neovascular age-related macular degeneration: analysis of 284 380 medicare beneficiaries.

Journal article Am J Ophthalmol · June 2012 Featured Publication PURPOSE: To examine trends in the treatment of newly diagnosed neovascular age-related macular degeneration (AMD). DESIGN: Retrospective cohort study. METHODS: Among 284 380 Medicare beneficiaries with a new diagnosis between 2006 and 2008, we used the cum ... Full text Link to item Cite

Predicting costs among medicare beneficiaries with heart failure.

Journal article Am J Cardiol · March 1, 2012 Featured Publication Disease management programs that target patients with the highest risk of subsequent costs may help payers and providers control health care costs, but identifying these patients prospectively is challenging. We hypothesized that medical history and clinic ... Full text Link to item Cite

Is biology destiny or can we optimize care for all patients?

Journal article Ann Intern Med · February 7, 2012 Featured Publication Full text Link to item Cite

Associations between published quality ratings of skilled nursing facilities and outcomes of medicare beneficiaries with heart failure.

Journal article J Am Med Dir Assoc · February 2012 Featured Publication INTRODUCTION: Nursing Home Compare quality ratings are designed to allow patients, families, and clinicians to compare facilities based on quality, but associations of the current measures with important clinical outcomes are not known. Our study examined ... Full text Link to item Cite

Incidence and prevalence of atrial fibrillation and associated mortality among Medicare beneficiaries, 1993-2007.

Journal article Circ Cardiovasc Qual Outcomes · January 2012 Featured Publication BACKGROUND: Atrial fibrillation (AF) is a common and costly problem among older persons. The frequency of AF increases with age, but representative national data about incidence and prevalence are limited. We examined the annual incidence, prevalence, and ... Full text Link to item Cite

Design considerations, architecture, and use of the Mini-Sentinel distributed data system.

Journal article Pharmacoepidemiol Drug Saf · January 2012 Featured Publication PURPOSE: We describe the design, implementation, and use of a large, multiorganizational distributed database developed to support the Mini-Sentinel Pilot Program of the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA). As envisioned by the US FDA, this implementatio ... Full text Link to item Cite

Minding the gap between efforts to reduce readmissions and disparities.

Journal article JAMA · February 16, 2011 Featured Publication Full text Link to item Cite

Resource use in the last 6 months of life among medicare beneficiaries with heart failure, 2000-2007.

Journal article Arch Intern Med · February 14, 2011 Featured Publication BACKGROUND: Heart failure is a common cause of death among Medicare beneficiaries, but little is known about health care resource use at the end of life. METHODS: In a retrospective cohort study of 229,543 Medicare beneficiaries with heart failure who died ... Full text Link to item Cite

Assessment of left ventricular function in older Medicare beneficiaries with newly diagnosed heart failure.

Journal article Circ Cardiovasc Qual Outcomes · January 1, 2011 Featured Publication BACKGROUND: Assessment of left ventricular function is a recommended performance measure for the care of patients with newly diagnosed heart failure. Little is known about the extent to which left ventricular function is assessed in real-world settings. ME ... Full text Link to item Cite

Geographic variation and trends in carotid imaging among medicare beneficiaries, 2001 to 2006.

Journal article Circ Cardiovasc Qual Outcomes · November 2010 Featured Publication BACKGROUND: Diagnostic imaging among Medicare beneficiaries is an important contributor to rising health care costs. We examined temporal trends and geographic variation in the use of carotid ultrasound, carotid magnetic resonance angiography (MRA), and ca ... Full text Open Access Link to item Cite

Generalizability and longitudinal outcomes of a national heart failure clinical registry: Comparison of Acute Decompensated Heart Failure National Registry (ADHERE) and non-ADHERE Medicare beneficiaries.

Journal article Am Heart J · November 2010 Featured Publication BACKGROUND: Clinical registries are used increasingly to analyze quality and outcomes, but the generalizability of findings from registries is unclear. METHODS: We linked data from the Acute Decompensated Heart Failure National Registry (ADHERE) to 100% fe ... Full text Link to item Cite

Risks of mortality, myocardial infarction, bleeding, and stroke associated with therapies for age-related macular degeneration.

Journal article Arch Ophthalmol · October 2010 Featured Publication OBJECTIVE: To examine associations between therapies for age-related macular degeneration and risks of all-cause mortality, incident myocardial infarction, bleeding, and incident stroke. METHODS: We conducted a retrospective cohort study of 146,942 Medicar ... Full text Link to item Cite

Geographic variation in carotid revascularization among Medicare beneficiaries, 2003-2006.

Journal article Arch Intern Med · July 26, 2010 Featured Publication BACKGROUND: Little is known about patterns in the use of carotid revascularization since a 2004 Medicare national coverage decision supporting carotid artery stenting. We examined geographic variation in and predictors of carotid endarterectomy and carotid ... Full text Open Access Link to item Cite

Use of guideline-recommended therapies for heart failure in the Medicare population.

Journal article Clin Cardiol · July 2010 Featured Publication BACKGROUND: Most information about the use of guideline-recommended therapies for heart failure reflects what occurred at discharge after an inpatient stay. HYPOTHESIS: Using a nationally representative, community-dwelling sample of elderly Medicare benefi ... Full text Link to item Cite

Associations between worsening renal function and 30-day outcomes among Medicare beneficiaries hospitalized with heart failure.

Journal article Am Heart J · July 2010 Featured Publication BACKGROUND: Kidney disease is common among patients with heart failure, but relationships between worsening renal function (WRF) and outcomes after hospitalization for heart failure are poorly understood, especially among patients with preserved systolic f ... Full text Link to item Cite

Relationship between early physician follow-up and 30-day readmission among Medicare beneficiaries hospitalized for heart failure.

Journal article JAMA · May 5, 2010 Featured Publication CONTEXT: Readmission after hospitalization for heart failure is common. Early outpatient follow-up after hospitalization has been proposed as a means of reducing readmission rates. However, there are limited data describing patterns of follow-up after hear ... Full text Link to item Cite

Process of care performance measures and long-term outcomes in patients hospitalized with heart failure.

Journal article Med Care · March 2010 Featured Publication BACKGROUND: Recent efforts to improve care for patients hospitalized with heart failure have focused on process-based performance measures. Data supporting the link between current process measures and patient outcomes are sparse. OBJECTIVE: To examine the ... Full text Link to item Cite

Clopidogrel use and clinical events after drug-eluting stent implantation: findings from the HealthCore Integrated Research Database.

Journal article Am Heart J · March 2010 Featured Publication BACKGROUND: Relationships between long-term use and level of dual antiplatelet therapy and outcomes after drug-eluting stent implantation are not well established. METHODS: This is a retrospective cohort study of 9,256 patients receiving drug-eluting stent ... Full text Link to item Cite

Resource use and costs of branch and central retinal vein occlusion in the elderly.

Journal article Curr Med Res Opin · January 2010 Featured Publication OBJECTIVE: To examine the incidence, prevalence, resource use, and costs associated with branch retinal vein occlusion (BRVO) and central retinal vein occlusion (CRVO) in elderly patients. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS: In a retrospective cohort study of a n ... Full text Link to item Cite

Costs of inpatient care among Medicare beneficiaries with heart failure, 2001 to 2004.

Journal article Circ Cardiovasc Qual Outcomes · January 2010 Featured Publication BACKGROUND: Inpatient care is the primary driver of costs for patients with heart failure. It is unclear whether recent advances in heart failure care have reduced the costs to Medicare for the care of inpatients with heart failure. METHODS AND RESULTS: In ... Full text Link to item Cite

Clinical effectiveness of implantable cardioverter-defibrillators among medicare beneficiaries with heart failure.

Journal article Circ Heart Fail · January 2010 Featured Publication BACKGROUND: The clinical effectiveness of implantable cardioverter-defibrillators (ICDs) in older patients with heart failure has not been established, and older patients have been underrepresented in previous studies. METHODS AND RESULTS: We identified pa ... Full text Link to item Cite

Representativeness of a national heart failure quality-of-care registry: comparison of OPTIMIZE-HF and non-OPTIMIZE-HF Medicare patients.

Journal article Circ Cardiovasc Qual Outcomes · July 2009 Featured Publication BACKGROUND: Participation in clinical registries is nonrandom, so participants may differ in important ways from nonparticipants. The extent to which findings from clinical registries can be generalized to broader populations is unclear. METHODS AND RESULT ... Full text Link to item Cite

Linking inpatient clinical registry data to Medicare claims data using indirect identifiers.

Journal article Am Heart J · June 2009 Featured Publication BACKGROUND: Inpatient clinical registries generally have limited ability to provide a longitudinal perspective on care beyond the acute episode. We present a method to link hospitalization records from registries with Medicare inpatient claims data, withou ... Full text Link to item Cite

Early and long-term outcomes of heart failure in elderly persons, 2001-2005.

Journal article Arch Intern Med · December 8, 2008 Featured Publication BACKGROUND: The treatment of chronic heart failure has improved during the past 2 decades, but little is known about whether the improvements are reflected in trends in early and long-term mortality and hospital readmission. METHODS: In a retrospective coh ... Full text Link to item Cite

Long-term outcomes and costs of ventricular assist devices among Medicare beneficiaries.

Journal article JAMA · November 26, 2008 Featured Publication CONTEXT: In 2003, Medicare expanded coverage of ventricular assist devices as destination, or permanent, therapy for end-stage heart failure. Little is known about the long-term outcomes and costs associated with these devices. OBJECTIVE: To examine the ac ... Full text Link to item Cite

Patient and implanting physician factors associated with mortality and complications after implantable cardioverter-defibrillator implantation, 2002-2005.

Journal article Circ Arrhythm Electrophysiol · October 2008 Featured Publication BACKGROUND: Little is known about factors that influence survival and complications after implantable cardioverter-defibrillator (ICD) implantation in routine clinical practice. We examined patient and implanting physician factors associated with outcomes ... Full text Link to item Cite

Association between the Medicare Modernization Act of 2003 and patient wait times and travel distance for chemotherapy.

Journal article JAMA · July 9, 2008 Featured Publication CONTEXT: The Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization Act of 2003 (MMA) altered reimbursements for outpatient chemotherapy drugs and drug administration services. Anecdotal reports suggest that these adjustments may have negatively affect ... Full text Link to item Cite

Incidence and prevalence of heart failure in elderly persons, 1994-2003.

Journal article Arch Intern Med · February 25, 2008 Featured Publication BACKGROUND: Recent analyses have presented conflicting evidence regarding the incidence and prevalence of heart failure in the United States. We sought to estimate the annual incidence and prevalence of heart failure and associated survival in elderly pers ... Full text Link to item Cite

Pancreatic beta-cell function as a predictor of cardiovascular outcomes and costs: findings from the Cardiovascular Health Study.

Journal article Curr Med Res Opin · January 2008 Featured Publication OBJECTIVE: To explore relationships between beta-cell function and incident cardiovascular events, death, and medical costs among elderly individuals. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS: In a prospective, population-based cohort of 4555 elderly individuals, we ex ... Full text Link to item Cite

Sex differences in the use of implantable cardioverter-defibrillators for primary and secondary prevention of sudden cardiac death.

Journal article JAMA · October 3, 2007 Featured Publication CONTEXT: Previous studies of sex differences in the use of implantable cardioverter-defibrillators (ICDs) predate recent expansions in Medicare coverage and did not provide patient follow-up over multiple years. OBJECTIVE: To examine sex differences in ICD ... Full text Link to item Cite

Sex and racial differences in the use of implantable cardioverter-defibrillators among patients hospitalized with heart failure.

Journal article JAMA · October 3, 2007 Featured Publication CONTEXT: Practice guidelines recommend implantable cardioverter-defibrillator (ICD) therapy for patients with heart failure and left ventricular ejection fraction of 30% or less. The influence of sex and race on ICD use among eligible patients is unknown. ... Full text Link to item Cite

Costs of the metabolic syndrome in elderly individuals: findings from the Cardiovascular Health Study.

Journal article Diabetes Care · October 2007 Featured Publication OBJECTIVE: The cardiovascular consequences of the metabolic syndrome and its component risk factors have been documented in elderly individuals. Little is known about how the metabolic syndrome and its individual components translate into long-term medical ... Full text Link to item Cite

Using inverse probability-weighted estimators in comparative effectiveness analyses with observational databases.

Journal article Med Care · October 2007 Featured Publication Inverse probability-weighted estimation is a powerful tool for use with observational data. In this article, we describe how this propensity score-based method can be used to compare the effectiveness of 2 or more treatments. First, we discuss the inherent ... Full text Link to item Cite

Geographic variation in the prescription of schedule II opioid analgesics among outpatients in the United States.

Journal article Health Serv Res · June 2006 Featured Publication OBJECTIVE: To measure geographic variation in opioid use in a large, commercially insured, outpatient population in the United States. DATA SOURCES: Outpatient prescription drug claims database of a national pharmaceutical benefit manager for 7,873,337 sub ... Full text Link to item Cite

Prevalence of atypical antipsychotic drug use among commercially insured youths in the United States.

Journal article Arch Pediatr Adolesc Med · April 2005 Featured Publication BACKGROUND: Use of atypical antipsychotic medications in pediatric populations is increasing. Although previous studies have presented data by age or sex, none has documented sex-specific prevalence by age group. OBJECTIVE: To estimate the 1-year prevalenc ... Full text Link to item Cite

Inappropriate prescribing for elderly Americans in a large outpatient population.

Journal article Arch Intern Med · August 9, 2004 Featured Publication BACKGROUND: We sought to determine the extent of potentially inappropriate outpatient prescribing for elderly patients, as defined by the Beers revised list of drugs to be avoided in elderly populations. METHODS: We conducted a retrospective cohort study u ... Full text Link to item Cite

The insurance effect on prescription drug expenditures among the elderly: findings from the 1997 Medical Expenditure Panel Survey.

Journal article Med Care · May 2004 Featured Publication BACKGROUND: Despite continuing debate over a prescription drug benefit for the Medicare program, there has been relatively little research estimating the potential cost of providing such a benefit. OBJECTIVE: The objective of this study was to estimate the ... Full text Link to item Cite

Prescription of QT-prolonging drugs in a cohort of about 5 million outpatients.

Journal article Am J Med · February 1, 2003 Featured Publication Many drugs prolong the QT interval and increase the risk of torsade de pointes. Concurrent use of two or more of these drugs can further increase the risk, but the prevalence of concurrent prescription of QT-prolonging drugs is not known. Using the adminis ... Full text Link to item Cite

The value of patient-reported health status in predicting short-term outcomes after coronary artery bypass graft surgery.

Journal article Med Care · November 2002 Featured Publication BACKGROUND: Risk stratification for comparison of outcomes after coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) typically includes only clinical measures of risk. Patient-reported health status may be an important independent predictor of short-term health outcome ... Full text Link to item Cite